Toy helicopter



Jan. 31, 1956 Filed May 29, 195-3,

FIG.

I. E. COHN TOY HELICOPTER 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

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O N m ID INVENTOR.

Ir in Cohn W 1 MM ATTORNEY Ueiedflpseetleem Q 2,732,656 ToY HELICOPTER E. Cohii, Fitchburg, Mass. Application May 29, 1953, Serial No. 358,382

2 Claims. or. 46:75)

This invention relates to a toy helicopter.

It is an object of this invention to provide a toy helicopter having a common motivating power adapted to propel said helicopter in horizontal movement and utilizing said common power source for rotation of helicopter blades disposed upon a vertical axis.

This invention is described with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the toy helicopter,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, broken away in part, of the left half of the helicopter, and

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, broken away in part, and showing the common-motivating source for rotation of the wheel and of the helicopter blades.

Turning to the drawings, a helicopter is composed of two substantially symmetrical half sections 1 and 2. Each of said half sections is provided with wheel supports 3, said wheel supports having apertures in their outer extremities adapted to receive an axle 4. Each of the forward sections of the half pieces is provided with angularly disposed depending wheel supports 5. Said wheel supports are provided with apertures to receive an axle 6 upon which a forward wheel 7 is journaled. A pair of enlarged landing wheels 8 are secured to the extremities of the axle 4 exteriorly of the wheel supports 3. A propeller 9 is laterally disposed upon the tailpiece of one of the half sections. This propeller 9 is an idle freely rotating propeller, unconnected to any motivating mechanism.

A pair of helicopter blades 10 are disposed about a vertical axle 11. The blades 10 are secured to each other by means of horizontal bridging 12, said horizontal bridging 12 being integrally molded to a cylindrical apertured element 13 disposed therebetween. A pair of underslung wing braces 14 are integrally molded to wings 10 which may be of plastic or other moldable material, and also to an extension of said apertured cylindrical element 13. The toy plane may be provided with a transparent plastic pilot bonnet 15, which bonnet is disposed between the half pieces 1 and 2.

According to this invention a common motivating force is adapted to elfect a forward movement of the helicopter and also a rotational movement of the blades 10. The motivating mechanism for the toy helicopter of this invention is located in box 16. This motivating mechanism may be spring wound by a spring key, not shown, as the spring mechanism employed is of conventional design and manufacture. The motivating power for axle 4 may be a gear disposed about said axle 4 and located within box 16, said gear not being shown as it is of conventional usage. A take-off gear from said motivating power source (not shown) is adapted to rotate ratchet toothed element 17 disposed on top of box 16'and beneath vertically disposed axle 11.

A bracket 18 is secured to box 16 by spot welding or other conventional method, and is provided with a pair of spaced apart horizontal plates 19, said plates m r u 2 19 having linearly disposed apertures therein fi, drive mechanism having a vertically disposed axle 20 is pro vided with a depending disc 21 having ratchet teeth thereon, said ratchet teeth being adapted to ,mate with the ratchet teeth of element :17, The axle 20 is disposed through the linear apertures of plates 19 and is provided.

at its top with a projection 22 of smaller diameter.

Each of the half pieces of the toy helicopter, which are preferably made of plastic, is provided at its top interior with a pair of horizontally disposed support. bars 23. An apertured cylindrical element 24 having an outwardly flared ski-rt 25 is disposed between the topmost, part of the helicopter and above the support bars 23.

The vertically disposed axle 1111 as shown in. Figs. 2 and 3 passes through cylindrical element 1 3 and. elements 24 and 25 and beneath support bars 23 through cutouts 26 disposed in said bars The axle 11 is provided with a projection 27 of lesser diameter at its lowermost extremity. A helical coil spring 28 is disposed about the narrowed projections 22 and 27. This spring 28 is in frictional engagement with said projections 22 and 27 so that rotation of axle 20 will effect rotation of axle 11.

The cylindrical element 13 which is integrally molded with axle 11 is provided with a recessed well disposed about the aperture therein, said well being adapted to receive a spring 29. A cap 30 is fixedly secured to the uppermost extremity of axle 11 and confines spring 29 within its well in element 13. A plurality of pillars 31 having bore holes therein are disposed in one of the half pieces of the helicopter and the other half piece is provided with a plurality of integrally molded pins adapted to fit within the bore holes of said recesses of said pillars 31, thereby locking the two half pieces 1 and 2 together.

The half pieces 1 and 2 may further be held in confined or locking engagement by means of studs 32 having bore holes therein, said bore holes being adapted to receive locking pins disposed in the corresponding half pieces of the toy helicopter.

In the operation of this toy helicopter, the spring mechanism in box 16 is wound by means of a hand key, not shown, and upon release of the helicopter the drive mechanism will drive the toy helicopter in a horizontal forward direction and will at the same time effect a rotational movement through the helicopter blades 10. The helicopter blades 10 being connected through axle 11 and spring 28 to axle 20, it is obvious that a slipping of the axle 20 about the spring 28 will be effected should the blades 10 be interfered with for any reason. Clearly, should a childs hand be disposed in front of the whirling blades 10, no injury would be effected since the blades would stop rotation because of the slippage eflect between its axle extension 27 and the spring 28.

This invention has been described by means of an illus trative embodiment, but manifestly other embodiments will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the above disclosure.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A toy helicopter comprising two half pieces having inwardly disposed support bars, an axle horizontally disposed beneath said half pieces and pivotally supported thereby, a pair of wheels disposed on said horizontally disposed axle, a spring power means for rotating said horizontally disposed axle, an apertured vertical cylindrical element disposed upon said bars, a top horizontally disposed helicopter blade element having an aperture therein, said aperture being disposed over the aperture in said cylindrical element, a top axle vertically disposed through the apertures of said horizontal blade element and said cylindrical element, a bottom vertically disposed axle in spaced linear relation to said top vertically disposed axle and operatively connected to said power means, and a coil spring clutch frictionally engaging and connecting said top and said bottom vertically disposed axles.

2. A toy helicopter comprising two half pieces having inwardly disposed support bars, an axle horizontally disposed beneath said half pieces and pivotally supported thereby, a pair of wheels disposed on said horizontally disposed axle, a spring power means for rotating said horizontally disposed axle, an apertured vertical cylindrical element disposed upon said bars, a top horizontally disposed helicopter blade element having an aperture therein, said aperture being disposed over the aperture in said cylindrical element, a top or upper axle vertically disposed through the apertures of said horizontal blade element and said cylindrical element, a bracket having a pair of parallel apertured plates, a bottom vertically disposed axle having a disc with ratchet 4 teeth fixed to its base and disposed through said plate apertures, a spring clutch frictionally engaging and connecting said top and said bottom vertically disposed axles, and a second rotatable ratchet disc secured to said spring power means for engaging said ratchet disc on said bottom vertically disposed axle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 833,504 Brillhart Oct. 16, 1906 1,807,791 Marx June 2, 1931 1,852,929 Hojnowski Apr. 5, 1932 2,254,767 Bardwell et al. Sept. 2, 1941 2,411,596 Shapiro et al. Nov. 26, 1946 2,622,367 Torn Dec. 23, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 726,504 Germany Oct. 15, 1942 

